The most mega of Megaraids

Rachael is no stranger to Breast Cancer Now having been part of three wear it pink Megaraids, and cycling from London to Paris (twice!). Here she shares her favourite moments and explains how she keeps the ‘fun’ in fundraising!

Hi, I’m Rachael and I’m fortunate enough to be in charge of all of the Raise and Give (RAG) activities at Loughborough University, where I graduated recently. I always love taking part in the Megaraid, and was even crowned top collector last year thanks to all the lovely people I met at Waterloo!

How I got involved

I got involved in fundraising activities during my first year of Loughborough university as I was elected as Rag Rep for my hall, and it has just snowballed from there! During my time in Rag, I have climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, gone dog sledding in the Arctic, cycled from London to Paris (twice!) and raised over £25,000. I absolutely love it and really encourage more people to get involved!

For the previous two wear it pink Megaraids you could find me waving at commuters outside Waterloo underground station in bright pink fancy dress with a bucket in hand. After much waving, numerous jokes, and stickers shared, thanks to some lovely Londoners, the donations started coming in thick and fast.

It’s such an amazing feeling to collect for a charity that makes a real difference to the lives of men and women across the UK.

My favourite moment has to be the moment that I had a queue of people wanting to put money in my bucket that stretched all the way down the ramp! Everyone was so keen to hear where the money went and what a difference it makes, so much so that pennies became pounds and I finished the day with a heavy bucket and an amazing feeling.

This year’s mega Megaraid

On Friday 23 October I took part in my third wear it pink Megaraid, but this time it was for the newly merged charity, Breast Cancer Now. I was excited to see if this would make a difference with collecting.

Unfortunately now I’m old and no longer a student I wasn’t able to collect for the whole day but did get out for the morning shift. It was incredible!

Everyone was so supportive and friendly, one guy even stopped to buy me a bottle of water to keep going. With lots of pennies, pounds and pats on the back I had to swap my bucket at 8:30 because it was too heavy for me to hold!

Later that day it was revealed that during those three hours, the generous people of London had donated over £1000.

After I finished collecting, I paused for a vital Mrs Crimbles brownie and then went round to catch up with all of the fantastic student collectors. It was lovely to hear their stories from the morning and see the impact that their enthusiasm for collecting for Breast Cancer Now was having on commuters.

The main piece of advice I could offer them was: don’t be afraid of making a fool of myself when Megaraiding! It’s alright to tell a cheesy joke, because people will either donate you because they love it or because they want it to stop - the cheesier the better!

It’s important to take regular breaks, because it’s a long day. But most of all, Megaraid is about having fun and raising vital money for breast cancer research!

Why I Megaraid

Breast Cancer Now needs to raise £300 million to invest in research over the next 10 years if their aim to stop women dying of breast cancer by 2050 is to become a reality. This means that we all have to do our bit to help make sure that there is a last one.

The support from the charity is phenomenal and by taking part in Megaraids and other events such as London to Paris bike rides and skydives, we can reach this target and feel amazing at the same time!

Congratulations to Breast Cancer Now for smashing their wear it pink Megaraid record this year, everyone else who collected and of course all of the generous people who stopped to donate.

You’re all superstars, and I hope to do it all over again next year with you all!